We all know about the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China,” the half-joking term for the barrier set up to prevent Western media from being consumed in China. And most of us assume there is a great deal of additional censorship with China itself. But until Gary King of Harvard University found a way to peer directly at the inner workings of Chinese censorship, no one knew exactly how it was done or what the Chinese were most serious about censoring.

You may not expect to find government versus opposition debates among school kids in a one-party state. But these debate contests are part of a plan to instill independent thinking in young Chinese who will have to compete in a global market.

In 1949, Mao outlawed golf in communist China, declaring it the sport of millionaires. But these days, the sport is on the rise. Dan Washburn spent more than a decade living and working in China and his new book, "The Forbidden Game," uses golf as a prism to view modern China.

China has a trash problem. Its landfills are brimming, often with wasted food. So the government is trying to attack the problem with a "clean plate" campaign and more incinerators. But burning the waste has people up in arms.

In China, the events in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989 remain a taboo topic. And even in the US, Chinese students studying at American universities find their curiosity to learn more tempered by fear of the possible consequences when they return home.

June 4th will mark the 25th anniversary of the violent crackdown by Chinese troops on student-led protests in Beijing. Those events continue to haunt US-China relations, according to journalist John Pomfret, who was in Beijing when the protests began.

When a Chinese economics professor at Peking University complained about being blackballed for political reasons, faculty at his partner institution, Wellesley College, tried to offer their support in an open letter. What happened is a lesson on the limits of US influence in China.

Most Chinese believe the government's view that Tibet is thriving under China's rule. They rarely hear about China's heavy hand there or its suppression of Tibetan dissent. That's where Tsering Woeser, a poet who grew up in Tibet, comes in. She lives in China and writes in Chinese striving to give a voice to her people.

We all know about the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China,” the half-joking term for the barrier set up to prevent Western media from being consumed in China. And most of us assume there is a great deal of additional censorship with China itself. But until Gary King of Harvard University found a way to peer directly at the inner workings of Chinese censorship, no one knew exactly how it was done or what the Chinese were most serious about censoring.

Images of stings that look like gunshot wounds and Chinese exterminators in protective suits with blowtorches have given the Asian giant hornets an infamous reputation. That, and the dozens of deaths they have caused in China.

In 1949, Mao outlawed golf in communist China, declaring it the sport of millionaires. But these days, the sport is on the rise. Dan Washburn spent more than a decade living and working in China and his new book, "The Forbidden Game," uses golf as a prism to view modern China.

Chinglish is a problem on signs in China — and no one's quite sure how to go about fixing it. The city of Shenzen, though, has a scheme to get the people making fun of the bad translations to help fix them.

Most Chinese believe the government's view that Tibet is thriving under China's rule. They rarely hear about China's heavy hand there or its suppression of Tibetan dissent. That's where Tsering Woeser, a poet who grew up in Tibet, comes in. She lives in China and writes in Chinese striving to give a voice to her people.

In China, the events in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989 remain a taboo topic. And even in the US, Chinese students studying at American universities find their curiosity to learn more tempered by fear of the possible consequences when they return home.

We all know about the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China,” the half-joking term for the barrier set up to prevent Western media from being consumed in China. And most of us assume there is a great deal of additional censorship with China itself. But until Gary King of Harvard University found a way to peer directly at the inner workings of Chinese censorship, no one knew exactly how it was done or what the Chinese were most serious about censoring.

You may not expect to find government versus opposition debates among school kids in a one-party state. But these debate contests are part of a plan to instill independent thinking in young Chinese who will have to compete in a global market.

Chinglish is a problem on signs in China — and no one's quite sure how to go about fixing it. The city of Shenzen, though, has a scheme to get the people making fun of the bad translations to help fix them.

China has a trash problem. Its landfills are brimming, often with wasted food. So the government is trying to attack the problem with a "clean plate" campaign and more incinerators. But burning the waste has people up in arms.

When a Chinese economics professor at Peking University complained about being blackballed for political reasons, faculty at his partner institution, Wellesley College, tried to offer their support in an open letter. What happened is a lesson on the limits of US influence in China.

Images of stings that look like gunshot wounds and Chinese exterminators in protective suits with blowtorches have given the Asian giant hornets an infamous reputation. That, and the dozens of deaths they have caused in China.